November 14, 2008

Purdue University celebrates international student population

"While the purpose of the events is to alleviate the stress among international students caused by their being in a new country, we also want to make other Purdue students and members of the community more culturally aware," said Agnes Blachut, a first-generation Polish-American student studying aviation management.

Blachut is a member of the Purdue International Week Team, which is organizing the events.

The International Week also is intended to bring together students of various nationalities at Purdue, said Priyanka Surana, president of the team.

The kickoff event, called The Amazing Race, is at 1 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 16). Deriving its name from a popular reality show, the event is a contest where groups of participants compete to do a list of tasks as quickly as possible. Each group consists of three or four people. Every group must pay a $5 participation fee. Registration will take place prior to the event on the Memorial Mall.

International Week also will feature one-hour sessions of different languages including German, Hindi, Urdu, Japanese, Russian, Italian, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish and Arabic. Food from these countries will be served during the sessions, which are free and open to the public.

The Singapore Food Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 22 at the University Church Fellowship Hall, 320 North St. 

Purdue International Week coincides with the International Education Week, which promotes educational programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and seeks to attract scholars from abroad to study in the United States.

To involve international students in the local community, Purdue's International Students and Scholars office have made arrangements for students from other countries to visit Burnett Creek Elementary School, Klondike Middle School and Central Catholic Junior and Senior High School during the International Week to share their culture with local students.

The International Students and Scholars office also matches international students to local residents as friends every semester, said Michael Brzezinski, associate dean of International Programs and director of the office of International Students and Scholars.

"This fall we matched 175 community residents in friendship relationships with international students," Brzezinski said. "This is a Purdue record, and the largest number of friendship relationships in the entire United States.

"Since 1995 there have been more than 1,200 such matches. Community residents and students share meals, go on outings together and celebrate holidays and special occasions. It is a cultural exchange in the purest form - one-to-one interaction between individuals from different cultures."

Purdue has the second highest international student population among public universities in the country with about 5,500 international students and 700 faculty and staff members from around the world. A record 2,360 international undergraduate students enrolled at Purdue this fall.

For the complete list of the times, dates and venues of all the events taking place during the Purdue International Week, go online to https://www.purdue.edu/piw

Writer: Soumitro Sen, (765) 496-9711, ssen@purdue.edu  

Sources:   Agnes Blachut, (630) 824-8351, ablachut@purdue.edu  

 Priyanka Surana, (765) 418-6604, psurana@purdue.edu

Michael Brzezinski, (765) 494-5770, mbrzezinski@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Journalists interested in covering International Week events or wanting more information on the week's events should contact Soumitro Sen, Purdue News Service, at (765) 496-9711, ssen@purdue.edu

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